Kenneth “Rabbit” Hare of Kingsland, a Korean and Vietnam War veteran who served for 22 years in the United States Air Force, always dreamed of becoming a pilot.
As a young boy growing up in the 1950s in Amarillo, Hare would sweep up at the Tradewind Airport in exchange for flying lessons.
Lauren (Parker) Timms decided it was time to go back to school in Llano. The 2009 LHS graduate went to college at Texas Tech and Texas State, coached one year in Junction, was a Jackets’ assistant in 2015-’16, and she’s now head coach of the high school cross country team.
There is the word, experience, on Llano High teams, running through much of this sports preview section, and no squad might have put in the miles — literally — that the cross country bunch has.
And experience is no savior if it has been preceded by under-achievers who have simply blown out more candles recently.
So, is there talent on this squad?
These women are the coaches of schools which have played the Jackets in volleyball this month. Here are their reactions:
Kristen Bigott, Gateway Prep: “Llano is a very good team, obviously.”
Jessica Withrow, Marble Falls: “Scrappy and energetic, fast girls on the back row.”
Gina Lumpkins, Harper: “{Jackets} did a great job, good defense, served well.”
Andrea Hutchins, Comfort: “Balls you didn’t think would come back did; kept the ball in play.”
Heather Wilson, Johnson City:
Maybe he’s on a four-year plan, and this, by the way, is his fourth year in Llano. That would be head volleyball coach, John Black. He’s got a couple of decades experience in the sport, but he’s happier about the experience of his kids. Eight seniors, which means “Eight is Enough — maybe.”
“Seniors want to have a successful season,” he told me near the beginning of two-a-days, August 1.
Injuries and a near-flawless performance on the field. “The worst thing about sports,” Llano High head coach Craig Slaughter termed the opening word here, while his team whipped Comanche in the second and final scrimmage.
Luke Williams’ season is over — he was scheduled for knee surgery. Hunter Roemer suffered a dislocated shoulder.
Welcome back. Hope you were able to struggle along with no football, except for the few bones of NFL, ARENA 3, CFL, FBS, and Pop Warner Live; the Classic Games of the 1940s; Pro Days of Our Lives; Coaches’ Corner, Closet, Club, Classroom, Clipboard...ENOUGH! We get it.
I’d just as soon be in Smithville, August 26, as anywhere else, as the Llano High Jackets open the season against the Tigers.
“The kids are on the brink of playing with full confidence,” declared head coach Craig Slaughte ...
Although the summer heat has dwindled its numbers from its large opening weekend in May, the Llano Farmers’ market is growing.
Jannie Vaught, who co-founded the local farmers’ market five years ago with Dorris Messer, said that many producers are phasing out for the summer. However, the weekly farmers’ market has grown leaps and bounds since it started out at the library.
“The first couple months were really big,” she said of this year’s market.
The farmers’ market moved to its cu ...
One hundred and thirty-two years ago, after looking around Texas for just the right spot, the Freeman family of Louisiana found what they were looking for in Llano County.
Through the sweat and hard work of generations past, that original country has grown exponentially into the large swath of land in north Llano County commonly known as the Freeman Ranch.
The meat judging program in Llano has had more than its share of success over the years.
The 2016 team qualified for the Western National Roundup to be held in January in Denver, Colo., joining a long line of its predecessors that have qualified for national competitions. In fact, Llano has qualified for a national FFA or 4-H event in 10 of the 16 years that Joe Dan Tarter has been coaching.
“Good kids, good kids,” Tarter said when asked why the program has been able to compete at a h ...
